Violin Concerto

The Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 was written by Jean Sibelius in 1903. Sibelius originally dedicated the concerto to the noted violinist Willy Burmester, who promised to play the concerto in Berlin. For financial reasons, Sibelius decided to premiere it in Helsinki, and since Burmester was unavailable to travel to Finland, Sibelius engaged Victor Novacek, a violin teacher at the Helsinki Conservatory. The initial version of the concerto pre... more

The Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 was written by Jean Sibelius in 1903. Sibelius originally dedicated the concerto to the noted violinist Willy Burmester, who promised to play the concerto in Berlin. For financial reasons, Sibelius decided to premiere it in Helsinki, and since Burmester was unavailable to travel to Finland, Sibelius engaged Victor Novacek, a violin teacher at the Helsinki Conservatory. The initial version of the concerto premiered in 1903, with Sibelius conducting. Novacek played poorly and the premiere performance was a disaster. Sibelius withheld this version from publication and made substantial revisions. He deleted much material he felt did not work. The new version premiered in 1905 with Richard Strauss conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Sibelius was not in attendance. Willy Burmester was again asked to be the soloist, but he was again unavailable, so the performance went ahead without him, the orchestra's leader Karel Halíř stepping into the... less